Photograph album of portraits, circa 1850-1900

Captured in formal portraits and candid snapshots, family members are the primary subject of the photographs processed in this subseries. A few tintypes, postcards, a carte-de-visite, lantern slides and glass plate negatives are also included. A photograph album of portraits begins this series and includes early photographs of Kimball's parents, his sister as a youngster, and other Kimball and Ripley relatives of his parents' generation and earlier. Based on the style of clothing depicted, these portraits probably date from the mid- to late-19th century. Approximately half are unidentified. The folders of photographs are arranged by individual family members, beginning with Kimball's parents. Next are early and later photographs of Kimball, followed by those of his sister, and in a separate folder, a few tintypes, circa 1893, of the young brother and sister. The folder of photographs of Theordora includes two with her husband Henry Hubbard and a few with other individuals. Portraits of Marie Kimball offer glimpses of her from what appear to be her schoolgirl to midlife years. Photographs of Kimball and his wife together are in a separate folder and include candid shots of them with others at a summerhouse in New Jersey. The "Other individuals" folder includes images of family members and acquaintances, all of whom are identified. Most of the images in the "Unidentified individuals" folder are formal portraits, including what appears to be a school group of young men and their instructors, dated 1907. Photographs of places in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Virginia and Christmas Cove, Maine that Kimball may have taken are filed in the "Geographic file" subseries of the "Reference material" series.

The next group of photographs focuses on scenic views, although people appear in many of the images. Within a small photograph album, neither the location nor individuals are identified. The album appears to document a vacation or some type of social outing, and includes a few sprigs of foliage pressed between some of the pages. The folder of photographs identified as Christmas Cove, Maine document a place very familiar to Kimball and his sister. To Theodora, Christmas Cove was a place to vacation with friends. To Kimball, the site also offered architectural commissions. Their ties to the site are documented, respectively, in the "Family Correspondence" subseries of this series and in the "Residential" subseries of the "Architectural Projects" series. Depicted in these photographs are various groupings of young men and women in leisure settings. None are identified or dated although the costumes suggest turn of the century. The final set of photographs pertains to the house on Spafford Road in Milton, Massachusetts that Kimball designed for his parents and sister. Most of the images, notated on the reverse, are of the gardens. Kimball's parents are seen in some of the views.

Drawings consist of original artwork drawn by Kimball or his friends. Although the bookplate designs are undated, all the drawings appear to date from Kimball's student days. Kimball probably drew the three studies of European architecture while in Europe as a Sheldon Fellow. What remains unclear, however, is why he dated his sketch of Beauvais as July 1911 on the verso. Kimball was still in England at that time.

"Objects" refer to any three-dimensional items not created by Kimball. These include the two books he owned and later gave to the library of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Being a collection of honorary addresses and a teacher's bible, both volumes were transferred to the archives. The third volume is in French, and there is no indication of how it came in Kimball's possession. The remaining objects are unidentified and consist of a small block of marble with an inlay center, and two fragments of granite. Kimball did request a granite gravestone in his memorandum to executors, which is processed as part of his "Estate" papers. Perhaps the granite fragments were collected as reference samples.